Treadmill vs. Road

Interesting. I find it harder to run on treadmills. I can comfortably maintain 6:00-6:30 minutes/mile on the road during a normal training run. However, I struggle to go under 7:00 pace on a treadmill. I always keep the incline at 0.0.

There is one advantage to training outside, especially during this time of year. You are far less likely to catch a cold from someone. Our city has a few fitness clubs. People continue to come in, even when they are obviously sick. That enclosed atmosphere is a risky place to be, especially during peak hours. I recommend staying outdoors if you are getting ready for an October marathon.

a true runner will never wimp out because of the weather and hit the treadmill. They are bad for you and will make you weak (minded). Its ok for some semi-fat 45 year old mom to run on a treadmill, but no one else, unless they are older, fatter, or have more children.

may god have some mercy on your pour soul.

thank you and good night

I find it harder on the treadmill. I run about 25 seconds per mile slower for the same effort. Also, I get a lot more muscle strains on the treadmill for some reason.

That must be why you are who you are... and Ingrid Kristiansen was a dedicated treadmill runner with World Records & Marathon wins.

Weak minded?? YOU try doing 10 mile runs at 6 min pace on a tred mill everyday! It was one of the hardest mental challenges I've ever faced in running. It's not the same as going to run a 5 mile loop where, once you get out 5 miles, you NEED to run the 5 miles back. With a tredmill you can always just step off and stop the pain. Also, with tredmills you don't drop pace without realizing it. If you drop pace...you end up on your butt and in even worse pain.

sounds obvious, but without proper aeration -- like a fan and open windows, etc. -- running on a treadmill can be just hellish ... if you try to keep a 'respectable' pace.

that aside, i've found that i can significantly ramp my speed up on a treadmill in mile or 2 mile increments without really noticing a change. so it's not that hard to start at a slower pace than i'd normally run, and then finish at a faster pace than i could normally handle.

seems like with a treadmill some of the work is done for you, and all you have to do is keep a stride going....running on the roads you actually have to push off and do a little bit more work.

run outside, be tough...running on a treadmill is torture anyway. takes away from the whole beauty of running.

I find it a little easier on the treadmill. Maybe its because my treadmill is not calibrated properly or its due to the lack of air resistence. Either way I still use the treadmill about once a week to do a progression run where I start at 6:20 pace and increase the pace slightly every half mile until I'm running about 5:20 by 10 miles. I guess I could adjust the elevation, but I keep it at zero because I'm training at 6,000 feet and want to get use to the turnover. Simulating sea-level running.

TREADMILLS SUCK.

No wind resistance.

You ever see those people who's running on a treadmill looks like a series of leaps, spending as much time airborn as possible?

How about those who keep their hands on the handrails?

Or the those who set it to the highest degree of incline then hang on to the front handles while walking?

Something has to be done to stop these a-holes.

I find treadmill training much harder. I think the large range in degree of difficulty is due to differences in the running stride. Some one with quick ground contact times would have an advantage. The longer some ones ground contact times, the more they would get pushed back by the treadmill belt with each step. Also I think a 'puller' would have an advantage over a 'pusher.' A pusher wouldn't have a solid platform to push off of because of the moving belt, and would thus decrease their normal return of energy.

The lack of wind resistance is surprisingly significant in letting you put up good 'times' on a treadmill. I was using one to train for an uphill race with 12% average grade (all the local trails were under snow, and no roads steep enough). I found I could run pretty close to course record pace on the treadmill, although that was not possible on the real course.

The annoying people are those that hog the treadmills so they can get in their "walk". They set the belt at pleasant 1.5-2.0 mph, slip on the headphones (audio for the TVs), and hog the machine for 20-40 minutes. It's truly frustrating when all 9 treadmills are in use and almost all of them are taken up by the walkers.

Effort, it's all that matters. Quit worrying about the details and run your ass off. Treadmill, road, track, trail, whatever. Get on with it.

Marius Bakken norwegian runner 13.06 5km this year, runs most of his intervall sessions during winter on a treadmill, is he a wimp???

I'm wondering what anything of the coaches think about treadmills. I'm in Minnesota and will do a lot of training indoors over the winter.

How 'bout it?

Supposedly, putting the treadmill at a 1% grade will compensate for the lack of air resistance and allow for aerobically equivalent pacing as compared to running outdoors on the flat in windless conditions. Each 1% you bump it up effectively adds about 8 to 10 seconds per mile, at least in faster ranges and until the f***er's so steep that mechanical considerations render the workout too dissimilar to land running to make aerobic equivalents meaningful. So 10 mph at 1% is about 6:00 pace, 2% about 5:51, 3% about 5:42, 4% about 5:33...et cetera.

Of course, most treadies are about as accurately calibrated as a Victorian Era dildo, so you're probably better off going by heart rate anyway.